French Nouns and Gender

Every French noun has a grammatical gender—either masculine or feminine. This fundamental concept affects article usage, adjective agreement, and pronoun references throughout French grammar.

Understanding Gender in French

Unlike English, where nouns are gender-neutral, French assigns gender to all nouns. Learning the gender along with the noun is essential for correct French usage. While some patterns exist, many nouns must simply be memorized with their gender.

Articles and Gender

French articles must agree with noun gender. The definite articles are le (masculine), la (feminine), and les (plural). The indefinite articles are un (masculine) and une (feminine). Partitive articles du/de la also reflect gender.

Patterns for Determining Gender

While exceptions exist, several patterns can help predict gender. Nouns ending in -tion, -ité, -ence, -ance are usually feminine. Nouns ending in -age, -ement, -eur are often masculine. Profession nouns ending in -eur typically become -euse for feminine forms.

Adjective Agreement

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Feminine adjectives often add an E to the masculine form. Some adjectives have completely different forms for masculine and feminine.